The U.S. widened its threat to impose tariffs against the European Union, pending the outcome of a World Trade Organization case over the EU’s subsidies of the airplane manufacturer Airbus SE.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Monday that as part of a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies it would consider tariffs on an additional 89 items with an annual trade value of $4 billion, including cheese, pasta and Scottish and Irish whiskies as well as chemicals and metals. The U.S. in April began the process of imposing tariffs against the EU pending the resolution of a WTO case that found the aircraft manufacturer has received unfair governmental support. The European Union has proposed tariffs against the U.S. over a companion case regarding U.S. subsidies of Boeing Co. BA, -2.07%
The announcement expands the USTR’s earlier threat, and now leaves items with a trade value of about $21 billion a year under consideration for tariffs, according to the statement. The Trump administration has largely sought to portray these tariffs as separate from their other trade efforts, saying that these tariffs are part of a distinct dispute over aviation subsidies, and not part of the overall effort to apply pressure to the EU to negotiate a broad trade deal. Neither Airbus AIR, -0.30% nor Boeing immediately responded to requests for comment.
The European Commission’s president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and President Donald Trump agreed to negotiate a trade pact last summer, but the two sides have made little progress in their negotiations. Even if the Airbus-Boeing spat is largely separate from other trade issues, the threat of tariffs hasn’t been conducive to progress in those talks.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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